An ancient fragment of Homer's "Odyssey" was hiding in plain sight for decades in a university library in the Netherlands — until a professor took a closer look.The discovery, announced by Utrecht University this month, was made in the university's Special Collections.Mark de Kreij, an assistant professor of Ancient Greek and Papyrology at Radboud University, came across the unidentified parchment while studying Greek manuscripts in the university's collection.EXPERTS STUNNED AFTER UNCOVERING HOMER'S 'ILIAD' ON EGYPTIAN MUMMY IN UNPRECEDENTED FINDDe Kreij told Fox News Digital the fragment had originally been kept with Coptic Christian manuscripts, which he said was "probably why it was missed in the early research on the collection."By the time he examined it, however, the still-unidentified fragment had been moved to a box containing Greek manuscripts.An ancient fragment of Homer's "Odyssey" was identified in Utrecht University's Special Collections after remaining unnoticed for decades.(Sepia Times/Universal Images Group via Getty Images; Utrecht University)Utrecht University said the fragment was first considered ordinary."Hidden among these, first regarded as an unremarkable 7th-century fragment, was a damaged and discolored fragment with very small, neat letters," the university said."De Kreij soon recognized a few words typical of the Homeric epics."ARCHAEOLOGISTS UNCOVER 1,700-YEAR-OLD CHRISTIAN CITY HIDDEN BENEATH EGYPT'S DESERTThe fragment contains verses from Book 12 of the "Odyssey" — including the pivotal moment when the sun god Helios discovers that Odysseus' crew killed and ate his sacred cattle.Helios then demands vengeance from Zeus — an episode recently depicted in the Christopher Nolan film adaptation.The manuscript preserves part of the episode in which Helios discovers that Odysseus' crew killed and ate his sacred cattle, depicted at right.
(Utrecht University; Hulton Fine Art Collection/Getty Images)Researchers believe the manuscript was...